SmallBusinessNewz

Local Business Social Media Use: Roost Study

CEO of social marketing platform builder for individual professionals, businesses, consultants and agencies, Roost, Alex Chang was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about a recent study conducted by the company into small business success with social media. The study uncovered a few secrets that small business people have used to increase their social media reach and overall effectiveness.

Daily Deals: Groupon Down, LivingSocial Up, Facebook Out

The daily deals space is getting quite interesting, and is one that local businesses ought to pay attention to.   For one, Facebook announced that it is shutting down its Deals service after four months. They are, however, keeping check-in deals, after changing the way Facebook Places works. 

Google is Getting Better for Local Businesses

It would appear that things are looking better and better for local businesses, in terms of potential customers from Google. Google continues to make more and more moves that benefit local. 

Noteworthy Tech News for Small Businesses

This week, there were several major items announced by big companies that could in turn have tremendous impacts for small businesses - at least for those that participate.  Stories range from search to local daily deals, and even a new productivity suite from Microsoft.  Microsoft/Nokia Deal Means More Potential Bing Searchers

Facebook Location Features Will Unlock More Potential for Businesses

We've talked about multiple ways Facebook can help your business online, and that is not limited to online businesses, although selling through Facebook is becoming easier and easier thanks to application developers like Payvment.

Google Patent Has Implications for Small Businesses

We've been discussing the importance of being listed in Google Places a lot lately, particularly since the company changed the name of its Local Business Center to Google Places and added some new features a couple weeks ago.

Get the Most Out of Your Google Places Listing

About a week ago, Google announced that it had changed the name of the Google Local Business Center to Google Places. Along with that, however, they announced a good deal of new features that businesses should be aware of. If you are not, they include: service areas, advertising with tags, business photo shoots, customized QR codes, and more favorite places.

The Online Yellow Pages Undergo Some Changes

Is YellowPages.com a significant source of business for you? If so, you may be interested to know that the site has been rebranded today as YP.com, with what AT&T Interactive calls its next-gen local search experience.

Google Maps Now offered in 30 New African Countries

Google has added new Google Maps domains for 30 countries in Africa. This means that users in these countries will be able to use Google Maps to find local businesses. In the U.S. and other places where such a feature has been available, it has been heavily used by consumers for this reason, and it should open up a great deal of opportunity for these countries.

More Businesses Get Shot at Getting Google's Barcode Stickers

Late last year, Google started sending brick and mortar businesses decals to put on their windows. These had barcodes that people could scan with their phones, which would bring up business listings. The businesses that received these were deemed "favorite places" by Google.